


Like a Crack of Thunder

by Moonflower75



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-01
Updated: 2009-05-01
Packaged: 2017-10-10 03:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/94911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonflower75/pseuds/Moonflower75
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the big changes in her life had taken place with that soundtrack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like a Crack of Thunder

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler: Season 3, from "Lucky" onwards.
> 
> Disclaimer: All characters contained here-in are the property of CBS. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission. No profit is being made.
> 
> Warnings: Unbetaed
> 
> Notes and thanks: this was originally meant as a reply/comment-fic for innerslytherin, but it got too long for that and too short to be called a real story, so here it is. And thanks to both innerslytherin and severity_softly for instilling the underlying idea in my head.

Thunder crashed loudly outside Morgan's living room window, following the lightning by scant thirty seconds. Penelope flinched slightly but didn't raise from her position, sprawled on the big sofa, the afghan keeping her warm and the scent of Derek and Spencer on it keeping her somewhat calm. It seemed to fit. All the big changes in her life had taken place with that soundtrack. Her parents. Her shooting…well, not a real thunderstorm, but the report of the gun had sounded as loud as a crack of thunder at the time. Her split with Kevin four months before.

She should be feeling weirder than this. She should be freaking out more about what had happened, both three weeks before and now. But seeing Spencer smile at her from the kitchen door, lips half puckered like he always did when he was slightly self-conscious, she realized she… simply didn't feel like it. Not anymore. Now she felt like being cuddled. So she half smiled herself and said: "Come here, Spence. In my infinite kindness, I might even make room for you" but her tone was too reedy from her recent bout of tears to really carry any teasing.

Spencer crossed the room and got to her, but instead of sitting near her feet, he surprised her by tapping her softly on the shoulder so that she would raise a bit and, just like that, sliding between her and the cushioned sofa arm, hugging her from behind and nosing her slightly behind her ear. He was obviously imitating Derek, who had done that a couple of times himself, but still, the fact that it was coming from Spencer….

"Shouldn't you be more upset? After all, in a way I barged in on your relationship with all the grace of a rhino and…."

"There was three of us there, Mama. A bit intoxicated, maybe, but definitely willing" This was coming from Derek, who was standing at the bottom of the steps leading upstairs. He was barefoot and she hadn't heard him come down. And he was empty-handed, as far as she could see. "And it's still three of us. Nobody is forcing anything on anybody, right Spence?"

"Absolutely. You know - he sounded a bit hesitant but he pushed on nevertheless - after that night, Derek and I talked a bit. Imagined it would have been great if you had wanted to do that… again. With a little bit more planning and a little less tequila, obviously, but…then you seemed so uncomfortable - he tightened his grip a bit - we simply decided not to mention it again…" and there he trailed off.

"When I woke that morning I thought I had screwed three things at once: our friendship, your relationship, and our vibe at work. All of this, because I couldn't hold my liquor on the anniversary of my parents' death. Can you blame me for being a bit edgy? And then this afternoon, when I realized….". Penelope kept her voice soft and her eyes on her feet, at the other end of the sofa, not really wanting to cross the gaze of either of them.

"Penelope…"

"Goddess - Derek had come around in the meantime, and without hesitation he had lifted her legs and seated himself, lodging his right tight flush against her bottom and bringing back a flash of great memories - what you should understand is that neither of us is about to cast blame. Neither on you nor on each other" Derek and Spencer had then shared a look that she could hardly decipher.

"This afternoon you were upset. I, for one, am glad you came straight here to us" Hearing Spencer say that, Penelope reached for his hands, clasped right underneath her breasts and squeezed them tight, closing her eyes in relief for a second.  
"Upset? Damn, Mama, I've rarely seen you agitated like that. But I hope you are feeling a little bit better now, because - and he extracted three sticks in a transparent plastic bag from his back pocket - these are ready"

Seeing them right there, she flashed back to a few hours before, when she had arrived at their doorstep almost in hysterics, not sure she could do it, not sure she could even check on her own. So Derek had simply taken her in his arms and caressed her hair to try and calm her down enough to understand what was going on. Spencer had hovered close, a hand on her neck, and when she had raised her eyes to his, it had taken him a nanosecond to connect the dots.

He had looked sucker-punched for a moment, then he had scrunched his face in a sort of uncertain, self-conscious smile and he had said to Derek: "Prepare her some chamomile tea, the one with rosebuds in it that she likes so much - then he had turned to her - you haven't bought them already, right?"

She had simply shaken her head, already cursing herself for a fool.

"Don't worry about it, I'll go get them right now, you just lie down and relax, ok?"

"What? - by this point Derek was thoroughly confused - what are you going to get, Spencer?"

And they had both seen awareness dawn on Derek when Spencer had murmured: "The tests".

As soon as she had 'done her part', as Derek had so charmingly put it, Penelope had been herded back to the sofa by Spencer, and Derek had waited in the bathroom for the results before joining them.

"So?" Penelope asked when she couldn't hold it in anymore. Derek lay in and kissed first her, then Spencer right on the lips. Deeply, with so much meaning behind, that just trying to contemplate it would make her head spin. Then he lifted an eyebrow, his lips curling in a devilish grin.

"So…" he repeated.

 

THE END


End file.
